The Hellhound King

by Lori Devoti

  The box moved.

  Marina jumped back, shoving the servant behind her as she did. She had let go of the cord, but the tie continued to fall; the sides of the box fell, too. Until it lay completely flat on the polished wood.

  Inside there was straw—moldy dirty straw that filled Marina’s bedroom with the stench of the stables. She pressed the back of her hand to her nose, but kept her gaze on the box. The straw moved. Marina reached for her blade, but her knife holster was missing, had been tossed aside by her uncle before they left the human world.

  Unarmed and afraid to turn her back, she waited for whatever was inside the box to appear.

  Before she could do anything else, even warn the servant to step back, the flat, brown and white speckled head of a snake sprang into sight.

  The snake bobbed up and down, its head spreading flat and its mouth opening wide, revealing fangs dripping with venom. Marina pressed her arm against the servant’s chest, warning her to stay back. The other elf stood stiff and pale, her gaze glued on the snake.

  The serpent was rare in Alfheim, but well known. Its venom was paralytic; its bite deadly. It stalked its victims, first splattering them with its venom, then moving in to finish them off with its bite.

  She nudged the servant backwards, tried to edge them both toward the door, but as she did, the servant came out of her stupor, opened her mouth and screamed.

  The snake jerked to the side, venom flying from its fangs.

  Raf shimmered into the front entryway of Geir’s mansion. He’d been gone for hours. The place was quiet. A piece of straw lay on the marble floor. He picked it up and twirled it between his fingers. The bit of debris reeked, at least to his sensitive nose, of old barns, mice and other creatures. It was a strange thing to find on Geir’s otherwise pristine floors.

  The thought had barely formed when a scream echoed down the hallway. Raf dropped the straw and shimmered again.

  A female elf stood in the center of Marina’s room, her mouth open, a scream hurtling from her throat. Marina shoved her to the side, moving the opposite direction as she did. On the table in front of them a huge snake wove and bobbed. Its head darted forward in a strike, liquid flew from its fangs.

  Marina swore and grabbed a lamp to swing in front of the snake, seemed more interested in blocking the barrage of venom than striking the serpent.

  Raf quickly stored the thought and shimmered again. Solidifying behind the two females, he placed a hand on each and shimmered them into the hall, out of the serpent’s reach.

  Marina’s eyes were huge and wild. Her hair had come loose from the elaborate braids that had held it back from her face and energy crackled around her. She shoved against him and tried to move toward the door.

  He stepped in front of her. “What the hell was that?”

  “A snake. It’s deadly. I have to catch it before it gets loose.” She tried to reach around him.

  “I don’t think so. Stay here.” He crossed his arms over his chest and shimmered back into the room.

  The snake had disappeared from the table. Raf spun in a circle, inhaling, searching. The smell of serpent reached out to him, obvious in the small room filled with Marina—sunshine and flowers, and lead him to the far corner where a basket full of clothing sat waiting to be unpacked and placed in Marina’s dresser.

  Something in the basket moved.

  He glanced around the room for a weapon or trap. There was nothing more dangerous than the lamp and nothing more secure than an open-topped woven trash can. He considered shimmering back out to look for something else, but Marina was right, the snake could easily escape the room while he did.

  The door to the bedroom creaked, and Marina slipped inside.

  “Get out,” he growled.

  “Where is it?” she asked.

  He growled again.

  Following his gaze, she focused on the basket. “We need to trap him.” She pulled a blanket off of her bed, and took a step forward.

  Raf pulled the blanket from her hands.

  She frowned, but let him.

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the folded-up net. “The weave is too open.” He frowned and started twisting the blanket around his hand instead. If he could get the snake to latch on to the cloth, he could shimmer the creature somewhere else—an ocean, a volcano, somewhere.

  Marina’s gaze moved to the net. “It’s elfin. It will adapt. Let me help.”

  The contents of the basket shifted again. A flash of brown scales slithered over a piece of turquoise silk, then disappeared somewhere deeper in the stack.

  “Raf, please,” Her gaze and stance were strong, but her voice was soft. She was asking him to trust her. In the garden she’d said she didn’t trust him. He hoped that wasn’t true, but either way, he knew how important trust was between them. They’d lost it so many times; he’d thought it could never be regained by either of them.

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the net.

  Her eyes shone. Her expression was happy and alive; a bystander would have thought he’d given her some elaborate gift, not a net to snare a snake. Her fingers brushed his. They stared into each other’s eyes.

  He felt the energy again, crackling through her, around her. He glanced down at her fingers…saw it there…green and unmistakable, magic. It flowed from her to him, wrapped around his fingers where they touched like blue wires.

  Marina glanced down, too. Her eyes rounded. “It’s—”

  An explosion sounded from the street below and the snake jumped.

  Raf leapt forward, his arm in front of him. At the same moment, Marina spun, energy dancing from her fingers. The snake’s fangs sank into the blanket. Raf grabbed Marina by the hand. “Shoot it,” he said.

  She hesitated; he could feel her doubt.

  “Now,” he said.

  She took a breath. He could see her resolve harden and smell her confidence returning. She hesitated, but only for a second. Then she opened her palms. A stream of magic flowed from her body and into the snake.

  At first nothing happened, or didn’t seem to. Marina tensed. A shadow passed over her face. Raf prepared to shimmer, where to he didn’t know….

  The snake stiffened and its mouth opened. Before it could fall to the ground, it began to spin, faster and faster. It ceased to look like a snake, was just a whirl of brown and cream. Its body curled, its head reaching toward its tail, until it formed a perfect circle. With a snap, its fangs sank into its flesh.

  Raf reached for Marina’s hand, but she took a step back. Folded and unfolded her hands, cutting off the flow of magic. The snake froze and then hung in midair as if held there by a string dangling from the ceiling.

  Raf couldn’t remove his gaze from the snake. He’d seen the symbol of a serpent latched onto its own tail before, knew it meant something—he just wasn’t sure what.

  Marina’s eyes were huge, her face pale. Unsure whether to comfort her or reach for the snake, Raf stood frozen.

  Without warning the snake fell.

  Raf stared down at it. “You’re a witch.” It was more than that, the symbol…it had to mean something, couldn’t be coincidence. He waited for Marina to explain.

  Marina fisted her hands. “I’ve never done anything like that before, not on my own…with Amma…but not—”

  He nudged the snake with his toe. It held its position, seemed frozen with its fangs embedded into its tail.

  “It’s a symbol,” he murmured.

  Marina nodded. “Usually, but—” the nod changed to a shake “—this is a coincidence. Maybe it’s about the magic. It affected the snake strangely.”

  Raf wasn’t convinced. “What does it mean?”

  “It’s the eternal circle—something that seems to have an end—” she pointed at the snake’s tail “—simply starts again.”

  “Why would it appear here?” he asked.

  She smiled. “It didn’t. I told you. The snake just reacted to the magic.”

  Raf stared at her
, not sure if she believed her words or not, then decided it didn’t matter. She was safe. He pulled her into his arms and lowered his mouth to hers.

  Despite what she’d said to him at their last meeting, she didn’t fight, didn’t object all. Her body fell against his, her fingers curled against his shirt, and she kissed him back.

  Raf smelled good, felt good. Marina smoothed her fingers over his chest. Then raised up on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. He was warm and strong and she had thought he was gone. But he’d come back…again.

  His lips parted and his tongue found its way into her mouth, stroked over the inside of her cheek. Something inside her tightened and fluttered. Her heart was beating hard and fast.

  She shouldn’t be doing this, kissing him. He’d helped her fight one snake, a snake in a box labeled for him. It could have been a trick….

  Even as her mind struggled to form reasons for her to step away, her hands locked around his neck, and her body melted against his.

  The snake, the circle, she could tell Raf didn’t believe her when she said it was coincidence—but what could it mean? It had to be coincidence. The snake hadn’t been sent to her, and she didn’t think whoever sent it planned on it being killed. No, the thing was meant to eliminate whoever opened that box.

  Raf. Someone wanted the hellhound dead.

  She stiffened, started to pull away to tell him. But his lips were against her neck, and he growled when she moved. She lowered her hands and let her fingers trail down his chest. Hard, broad and padded with muscle. She found the end of his shirt and shoved it up, baring his skin. She would never get tired of touching him.

  She would tell him the snake was meant for him, later.

  Her fingers danced over his bare skin and he growled into her mouth, encouraging her now. The sound fed her on, made her bolder.

  His hands found her hips, and he pulled her against him. He was hard. The feel of him excited her more, reminded her how special she had felt when they’d been together before the shadow of the elf lords and the spying had fallen over them.

  He took a step forward, causing her to take a step back. Her leg collided with the bed. Raf bent and she let him, let him lean down, carry her down with him until they both lay flat on the sheets, panting and staring into each other’s eyes.

  She reached her hand to his face…the door knob rattled, and before Marina could move or think, Raf had shimmered.

  She was left alone, her heart hammering in her chest, her body throbbing with longing. She bunched the bed clothes in her hands. He was gone, again.

  Her eyes flew open. And she hadn’t warned him about the snake, that it hadn’t been sent to him. He didn’t know someone wanted him dead.

  Chapter 13

  “M arina!” Ky rushed into the room, the guard Tahl close on her heels. “Dae, she said—” Marina shot upward to a stand. Her hands and legs shook.

  Tahl leaped in front of Ky, his sword drawn. He sprang forward and drove his blade into the floor…the snake, Marina realized. He’d seen the snake’s body and attacked.

  “Oh, gods, she was right.” Ky stepped back, eyeing the reptile’s now limp corpse.

  Marina’s heart still raced, from her realization that Raf had left unwarned, and the surprise arrival of her sister. She stood stupidly staring at the pair, her gaze moving from Ky’s shocked face to the dangling dead body of the snake.

  “It’s nothing,” she said finally, her heart slowing and her brain coming to grips with what was happening. “I killed it.”

  “It’s biting its tail….” Ky stepped forward her hand held out as if to touch the serpent.

  Marina slapped her sister’s arm upward, away from the snake. “It’s poisonous. Even dead its venom is still there.”

  Her sister blinked at the snake, her blue eyes narrowing. Marina couldn’t tell what Ky was thinking, but the silence made Marina want to move, do something to change the mood in the room.

  She jerked the sword from Tahl’s hand and shook the snake off into the trash. Then she shoved the basket into Tahl’s arms.

  “Have someone get rid of it, burn it.” She turned away and stared at her mussed bed.

  Her mind instantly returned to Raf. She wrapped her hands around her arms, wondered if her sister sensed her discomfort.

  “Where did it come from?” Ky asked.

  Marina turned back. Her sister had risen onto her toes in an attempt to see inside the basket. Marina hesitated.

  “A box,” she murmured, keeping her gaze from going to the table where the unfolded box with its tag still lay.

  “Dae said something about your hellhound.” Ky glanced around the bedroom. “Is this what it came in?” She tapped the box with one finger.

  Instantly worried that there might be another threat attached to the box, Marina grabbed her sister by the arm and pulled her away.

  Ky frowned. Marina slowly loosened her grip and stepped away.

  Ky’s expression returned to normal, but misgiving settled around Marina. Suddenly, she wanted her sister to leave. She pressed a hand to her forehead. “I’m not feeling well. I think I need time alone.”

  Ky glanced at Tahl, who still held the basket, then nodded at Marina. “You’ve been through a lot. We should leave. Tahl will take care of the snake, and I’ll get rid of this.” Before Marina could stop her, she’d gathered up the box, cord and card. Realizing objecting would seem odd, Marina let her.

  Without another word, the pair strode from the room.

  Marina waited until the door clicked behind her, then dropped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling.

  What was going on? And what exactly should she do about it?

  Raf shimmered to the street outside the house. He hadn’t known who was entering Marina’s room, but hadn’t wanted to be found there. His relationship with Marina was growing, whether she knew it or not, and he didn’t want to tip off any spies to the fact.

  He placed a hand against the wall that surrounded the house. The brick was cold and rough. He concentrated on that for a second, let his heart slow and his mind focus.

  There was a story that went with that snake. He needed to get back to Marina and discover what it was.

  Suddenly the ground shook and a group of elves raced by. Frowning, Raf moved out of their way, then grabbed the next elf who ran past. “What’s wrong?”

  The elf tried to pull away, but Raf held strong. “Subversives,” the elf yelled. “They bombed a storefront.” He jerked his arm. Raf let go, watched the elf disappear into the crowd.

  Subversives. Another group loose in Alfheim. The land of light and plenty was spotted with darkness and desperation. Raf wanted nothing more than to get the stone and Marina, and leave.

  He turned, ready to shimmer back to her. Another explosion rocked the street. A female screamed, something about her child.

  Raf glanced over his shoulder at Geir’s mansion.

  Another scream, a female elf, her face drawn and her clothes stained, shuffled toward him mumbling. “My son…he’s in there…trapped.”

  Raf closed his eyes, tried to ignore the voice inside his head urging him to help, tried to remember Alfheim’s problems weren’t his own.

  The female stumbled and fell. Another wave of crazed elves ran past, trampled over her.

  With a curse, Raf shimmered and grabbed the female by the arm…shimmered her to safety. “Where is he?”

  Leaving Alfheim would have to wait.

  Hours had passed since Raf left. Marina paced back and forth in her bedroom, not sure what she should be doing, but feeling she should be doing something.

  She stopped at the table and flattened her palms against its top. The snake. Who had sent it? The only being she knew in Alfheim with reason to want Raf dead was her uncle, but a snake packaged up like some twisted Jack-in-the-box did not seem her uncle’s style.

  “Someone tried to kill you.” Raf spoke from behind her, his voice gruff.

  She spun. His clothes were stained and
there was a gash over his eye. She stepped forward and touched the raw flesh. He didn’t move, just stared down at her, his gaze dark and troubled.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  He captured her fingers with his, pulled them from his brow. “Nothing.”

  She pursed her lips. “Don’t lie to me. If you want me to trust you, you can’t lie, not anymore.”

  He squeezed her fingers and nodded, told her about being on the street, about explosions and families being separated. “Things are ugly here,” he finished. “You should leave. We should leave—together.”

  Marina hesitated. She hadn’t told him about Ky, about her uncle’s hold on her. “What do they want?” she asked. “The subversives?”

  He shook his head. “No one seems to know. I don’t think they’ve made any demands. It’s as if everyone has gone mad.”

  “Someone should stop it,” she said.

  “If the elf lords could, they would have. No rulers like uprisings.” Raf ran a hand over his face. “The citizens seem to hate them, and the royals, too. I couldn’t find anyone willing to stand behind either group.”

  Marina nodded. It didn’t surprise her. If the royals had thought they had enough influence to take Alfheim from the elf lords, they would have done it a century ago. Which was why they wanted her to trick the citizens of Alfheim into accepting them—as if she being back in the castle would change anything. It was just another elfin trick.

  Raf seemed to be thinking the same thing. “Could you change things?”

  She shook her head. “Change what? What are the citizens objecting to? How would I know which group to support? The elf lords are pushing Alfheim toward technology and away from magic, the royals would do the opposite. But I don’t believe either is any better or worse than the other—just different.”

  He rubbed her knuckles with his thumb. “How would you do things?”

  She started. She’d never thought of that before; no one had ever asked, because it hadn’t mattered. Neither group really wanted her input. They only wanted her name and image.